That’s how many offensive rebounds UNLV had in the final 2½ minutes, and that was the difference in an 82-75 victory against No. 15 San Diego State in a pulsating game in a pulsating Viejas Arena. Simple as that.

It gave UNLV (15-3, 2-1) its first conference road victory in regulation under second-year coach Dave Rice, and it ended a 10-game SDSU home win streak. The Aztecs have lost only five of their last 63 games at Viejas, and Rice has been involved in three of them (two as an assistant at BYU, one with UNLV).

Jamaal Franklin had 27 points and seven rebounds for SDSU (14-3, 2-1). Winston Shepard had a career-high 18 points. Chase Tapley had 16. But the rest of the scoring went like this: 8, 4, 1, 1 and 0.

If you looked at the stat sheet and didn’t know the final score, you’d think the Aztecs were recipients of a behind-the-woodshed beating. UNLV shot 51.6 percent to SDSU’s 38.8 percent, had a 43-31 advantage on the boards, a 15-7 edge in assists.

Somehow, though, the Aztecs found themselves down a point with 3:13 to go and JJ O’Brien on the line for a one-and-one.

He missed. They never got any closer.

Two minutes earlier, DeShawn Stephens – the lone big man in what amounts to a four-guard starting lineup – was poked in the eye and went to the bench. Coach Steve Fisher said he was OK but opted to stick with the group on the floor and “ride with what we’ve got,” which consisted of only one guy taller than 6-foot-6 (and that was the 6-8 Shepard, a point guard) and which had given the Rebels fits for most of the night.

“That’s what the winning team does,” Fisher said. “They made those plays down the stretch. Our team didn’t.”

“We talked to the team about one thing primarily, and that was being tough,” said Rice, whose team lost at New Mexico last week after surrendering late offensive rebounds. “At the end of the day, it was just about being tough enough to make enough plays. This was a great toughness win for us.”

The Rebels are built for games like this, though, for 48-point halves and 67 total shots. Rice came from BYU, where he was the mastermind behind an offense that led the Mountain West in scoring six straight years. He took over at UNLV last season; the Rebels led the conference in scoring.

“We just believe in pushing the ball up and down the floor, and when we get the first open shot we take it,” Rice said earlier this month. “I think it’s good for recruiting. I think it’s good for fans.”

And not always good for the opponent. The idea is to coax you into playing at their pace, to taking shots sooner than you normally might, to think you’re going along fine only to have your legs suddenly melt beneath you.

Or in numbers: The Aztecs were holding teams to an average of 59 points. The Rebels had 48 at the half and 60 with 15:02 to go.

UNLV’s biggest lead was 56-46 and, sensing the game slipping away, Fisher called timeout. It worked, and his team rallied with a 12-0 run that three timeouts (within 3:13) by Rice were unable to stem.

Rice finally steadied the ship by going small, removing forwards Anthony Bennett and Mike Moser for a four-guard lineup plus the 6-9 Birch. And Birch was all they needed inside, blocking five shots and changing several others, which might explain why rushed chippies by the Aztecs didn’t fall as the game progressed.

“We need to now clean up what we didn’t do well but leave it on the doorstep,” said Fisher, whose team plays the next two on the road at Wyoming and Nevada. “I told our team, one of the fibers of this team has been our ability to be resilient and not lose back-to-back games.

“Before I could say anything, Jamaal Franklin made the comment: ‘No one is going undefeated in this league.’”

Notes

The stretch run also did not include Xavier Thames, who sat out the conference opener last week with a bad back and had no points and no assists in 25 minutes. Said Fisher: “I don’t think X was X, physically. He would never want to use that a reason, but I don’t think he was himself.” … Another problem for the Aztecs: 3-of-19 shooting (15.9 percent) behind the 3-point arc. The Rebels were 4 of 13 (30.8 percent) after shooting just 19 percent in their last four trips here …

The Aztecs wore their home gray uniforms for the second time this season … Franklin had his third straight 20-point game … UNLV had lost four straight at Viejas Arena and was the one Mountain West venue where Marshall, a senior, had not won in his career … Rice used 11 players. Fisher used eight. (Dwayne Polee and James Johnson did not play.)